Increased space for children's programs could boost child literacy

Sunday

Jul 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM

PETERSBURG - A room full of children sat cross-legged anticipating the next sleight of hand by magician Wes Iseli. The disappearing acts and other illusions were part of a magic show hosted at Tabernacle Baptist Church as part of the Petersburg Public Li

PETERSBURG - A room full of children sat cross-legged anticipating the next sleight of hand by magician Wes Iseli. The disappearing acts and other illusions were part of a magic show hosted at Tabernacle Baptist Church as part of the Petersburg Public Library's summer reading program.

Telka Parham, who brought children from the summer camp Journey to Success, said that the program was an unexpected surprise.

"I didn't know that they had a program like this because it's a library, so you think about them having reading all the time and stuff like that," she said.

But Janet Sullivan, acting children's coordinator, said that movement and interaction is important to learning as well. "Everything doesn't have to be about books but a more stimulated mind is better reached by books," she said.

The library works to stimulate active minds through programs that emphasize movement, music and other activities through its summer program and other initiatives. But such active programs require space that the current William R. McKenney Branch Library just does not have. The library's children's programs compete with the other initiatives for use of a single 1,000-square-foot basement space. This is the largest and most convenient place the library has to hold large gatherings. As a result, multiple programs compete for time slots for the same room. Less services are offered because these activities cannot be held at the same time. The library is often required to hold its larger programs at Tabernacle Baptist Church or travel to schools and day care centers.

But this will change when the new library building is completed by the end of fall. An additional 3,895 square feet of space will be added just for children's programs - about three times more space than the existing area. In addition to this general space, 572 square feet will be added for an area just for teens, and 700 square feet for an "imagination station."

The teen area will have computers and student spaces just for adolescents. Online tutoring through Literati, a service already offered by the library, will be expanded through the addition of more computers.

Also, for elementary students, more computers with touch screen learning games will be added.

The "imagination station" will further expand the library's mission to cultivate active and stimulated young patrons. Children will be able to play dress-up and use their imaginations. It would also serve as a staging area for story time.

Sullivan emphasized that libraries are essential to developing children into avid learners and readers.

"You have to get them young," Sullivan said. "They must read on level by third grade or there is an exponential knowledge loss."

A University of Chicago study links reading on level by third grade with future academic performance and indicated a direct correlation between this milestone and college attendance. Out of the 26,000 Chicago school children sampled from reading test data from 1996 to 1997, 38 percent were below grade level for reading, while 50 percent were at grade level, and 12 percent were above.

Out of those reading below grade level in the third grade, fewer than 20 percent attended college. This is compared to about a third of students who were at grade level attending college, and nearly 60 percent of students who were reading above grade level.

Studies also indicate that libraries are essential to increasing literacy and in turn, academic achievement.

A Colorado State library study linking the change in school librarian staffing with reading scores, showed a positive trend when there was a librarian on site. From 2005 to 2011, schools that either gained or maintained a librarian tended to have more students scoring advanced in reading. Since 2005, performance in school with librarians surpassed schools without librarians by about 45 percent to 49 percent. Sullivan also stressed the importance of the role of parental involvement in increasing literacy. Recognizing this, the library plans on offering more story time sessions because of the increased space. During family story time sessions, librarians plan to work with parents to help them better engage their children while reading to them, and to get children more excited about literacy.

Sullivan said that family involvement sets children up to be "lifelong learners."

"What a lot of parents fail to realize is that they are their child's first teacher," she said. "They have to work with them to grasp the importance of literacy."

- For information about the library project or how you can help, please go to the website of the Petersburg Library Foundation at www.petersburglibraryfoundation.org or call at 804-733-2387 ext. 35

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